Tufts' Swett Nominated for NCAA Sportsmanship Award

Jumbos' Diver Named NESCAC Diver of the Meet, Won Two NCAA Titles in 2008

HADLEY, Mass. - Kendall Swett (Akron, Ohio), a 2008 graduate of Tufts University and a former member of the Jumbos women’s swimming & diving team, has been nominated for the 2008 NCAA Sportsmanship Award by the NESCAC.

The award is given annually by the NCAA to a male and female student athlete from each of the three divisions (six total). Nominees for the award have demonstrated good sportsmanship and ethical behavior in their daily participation in intercollegiate athletics, along with good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting and are in good academic standing.

A two-time honoree as Diver of the Meet at the NESCAC Swimming & Diving Championships, Swett re-wrote the NESCAC and Tufts record books during her time with the Jumbos. Swett, who also earned All-NESCAC recognition in each of the past two years, won both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events at the 2007 and 2008 NESCAC meets as she set the championship record in the 1-meter in 2007 with a score of 486.80 and the 3-meter record in 2008 with a 536.85 score, both of which are program records at Tufts.

At the 2008 NCAA Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in March, Swett won the 1-meter title before earning the 3-meter championship, the second in her career after she came away with the 2006 3-meter crown while at Lake Forest prior to transferring to Tufts. Swett’s 3-meter score of 509.30 at this year’s NCAA meet broke the previous championship record which she set in 2006. She finished her diving career as a six-time All-American.

Swett had a unique experience during her time at Tufts. Her diving coach, Brad Snodgrass, is also the diving coach at MIT for one of Swett’s competitive rivals, and Swett regularly traveled to nearby MIT for practice, as the Jumbos do not have a regulation size diving pool. Even though Swett had to train alongside a competitor from another team, she still managed to keep a smile on her face, focus on her own goals, and establish a good working relationship with one of her biggest challengers. Swett also demonstrated good sportsmanship on numerous occasions throughout her career by assisting injured divers from both her own team and opposing teams.

Outside of the pool, Swett has shown more than just good sportsmanship. While participating in an archaeology project through UCLA last summer in Ecuador, she helped set up an after school English tutoring program for children in Cangahua after a few young girls asked Swett to help them learn English. Swett found other children that were interested in lessons and paired them with individuals from her archaeology program.

Swett was named to the NESCAC Winter All-Academic Team for 2007-08 and graduated in May with a degree in art history.

The winners of the 2008 NCAA Sportsmanship Award will be announced in July.